An imperfect modernity – Guangzhou’s CBD project

John Zacharias and Wenhan Yang

International Planning Studies, 2018, vol. 23, issue 3, 292-309

Abstract: Modernization is a fundamental driver of Chinese governmental projects, exemplified by renewed cityscapes; however, recent modernity projects often fail to achieve stated objectives. The CBD project of Guangzhou, a typical flagship modernity project, exemplifies the contained and all-encompassing urbanism of contemporary Chinese urban planning with its exclusionary social character, distinctive features and visual signifiers. Efforts at redefining place for the modernity project increasingly encounter opposition and obstacle, as in the embedded enclave of the early reform years, Liuyun Xiaoqu. These remains of an earlier vision for modern Guangzhou are now the unintended centrepiece of the whole CBD project, increasingly difficult to dislodge. This paper examines the CBD project as an exemplar of Asian modernity to enquire how the embedded enclave of Liuyun Xiaoqu developed a symbiotic relationship with the government project. The case demonstrates the great difficulty of carrying out in toto grand modernity schemes in China, due in large measure to the power of local communities to challenge their social composition and architectural vision. The greenfield CBD development in China after 2001 becomes an increasingly standardized form of enclave even as the possibility of achieving the vision becomes increasingly difficult.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13563475.2018.1454827 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:cipsxx:v:23:y:2018:i:3:p:292-309

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/cips20

DOI: 10.1080/13563475.2018.1454827

Access Statistics for this article

International Planning Studies is currently edited by Shin Lee, Scott Orford and Francesca Sartorio

More articles in International Planning Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().